BJ Hookers Vodka

BJ Hooker's Vodka

Chic meets cheek.

Vodka manufacturers typically try to outdo each other with ever-loftier bottle creations that convey the finesse of their product. BJ Hooker’s, a Houston, Texas-based vodka distillery with roots reaching back to Prohibition, took a different approach: a strong bottle design that features 1950’s bar advertising applied with a cutting-edge ceramic labeling process.

BJ Hooker’s is all about fun and Americana. The goal of its new bottle was to retain this playful personality using retro cocktail ads—a BJ Hooker’s signature—and present them in a way that captures the vodka’s handmade, premium quality.

To accomplish the task, Berlin Packaging and its Studio One Eleven design division created a custom glass container that sports the word “Cheers” and a silhouette of the state of Texas prominently embossed on the raised shoulder, along with another Texas logo deeply-debossed atop the bottle backside.

The company’s retro imagery was applied using ACL (Applied Ceramic Labeling), a specialized technique in which ceramic inks are fused to the bottle in a conveyor oven. The process outperforms screen printing by delivering perfect registration quality, even in the 360-degree application used for BJ Hooker’s. The finished bottle, presenting an elegant 3D effect thanks to the four-color ACL process, boldly sets BJ Hooker’s apart in a crowded product category.

BJ Hooker’s has applied the new look to all five of its package sizes. The company is also adapting the design for its new line of flavored vodkas.